The Gifted
by THB
Summary: In a world where Team Rocket and the Pokemon League are at war, Annie and Oakley's job to kidnap a young man seemed trivial  until they realize who he is. He's the catalyst that will either escalate the bloody war into chaos or stop it once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Annie, report now," a voice buzzed in Annie's ear.

Annie sighed, blowing away the locks of blonde hair that fell over the left side of her face and covered one of her hazel eyes. Within seconds, the hair fell right back into place. In a smooth motion, she combed the locks behind her ear and casually touched the earpiece tucked inside her ear.

"I'm bored," Annie replied through the earpiece. "No sign of our target yet-"

A sudden beeping sound from a device hanging loosely from her utility belt cut her off. She pulled it from her belt and read its monitor. A small grin appeared on her face.

"Hold on, Oakley. I just got a reading on something approaching me. It's headed north from Route 6." She peaked her head out of the foliage skirting the main path of Route 6 and looked to her right. The path remained empty. She ducked back down and looked back to her scanner.

"The scanner picked up the reading of a Bug type. I think we finally found him." Annie typed into the device and a photo of a young man with dark, spiked hair displayed on the monitor. "He's cute, too," Annie giggled to herself.

"Report back when you have a positive ID on the target," Oakley replied through the earpiece. "But do not engage! I'm still in Saffron, but I'm on my way. ETA, 5 minutes."

Annie turned to her left, looking back at the cityscape of Saffron and then looked to her right at the still empty path of Route 6. Her lips curled in a sneer. "Oh please. I'll be done with him by the time you get here."

"Annie," Oakley said sternly, "the report said he was at least equal to our level. Maintain your position until I arrive. That's an order!"

The scanner in Annie's hands beeped again. Annie's eyes darted back to the path where she spotted the silhouette of a lone, approaching figure. Annie squinted. With the sun in her eyes, she couldn't make out any of its features.

She let the figure continue its approach as it angled away from the sun and came closer to her concealed position. After several paces, the figure walked directly in front of her and with the sun out of her eyes, Annie could better see some of its features – most noticeably the feminine curve of its hips. It was a woman.

"Annie, do you have a visual?" Oakley's voice again buzzed in Annie's ear. At that moment, the feminine figure stopped. She quickly turned her head, her blue eyes looking directly at Annie even in her concealed position. It was as if the woman had heard Oakley's voice from the earpiece, but that was impossible. The hearing radius was only a few inches.

The woman dropped a basket of herbs she held and immediately broke into a frantic run down the path towards Saffron City. Annie cursed to no one in general as she leaped onto the path in pursuit.

"Someone spotted me! Female. I'm going after her!" Annie said. She touched her earpiece one more time to turn off the mic as she broke into a sprint.

Annie looked ahead at the retreating figure. She first noticed the coattails of the woman's white labcoat, flapping wildly as she ran, and then her pink ponytail, bobbing up and down uncontrollably.

Within seconds, Annie was already just a few yards away from the pink-haired woman, but she did not try to get any closer. Instead, the Rocket agent reached out with her right hand in a grabbing motion, and her hand emitted a bright, pink glow. The retreating woman shrieked in surprise as she found herself surrounded in the same bright, pink glow and frozen in place. Annie raised her hand slightly, levitating the trapped woman two feet above the ground. Annie rotated her wrist, rotating her prisoner until she faced her.

In a swift motion, Annie spread her fingers as wide as possible and forced the young woman into a spread-eagled position, causing her to yelp in surprise. The glow from Annie's hands winked out, and she walked towards the captured young woman to get a better look.

"Well, this isn't good," Annie sighed, crossing her arms over her buxom chest. "You're definitely not him." She looked up at her captive. The pink-haired woman grunted as she struggled to move her body, unable to budge even an inch. Underneath the glasses she wore, her blue eyes squeezed shut, and her pretty face cringed and twisted as she strained to escape.

'Be brave!' the echo of an unfamiliar, female voice resounded somewhere in the back of Annie's head. 'Don't show her you're scared!'

Annie didn't hear the voice through her earpiece. She heard it from a place she could never explain, but eventually learned to accept. Somehow, she had developed the ability to hear the thoughts of a nearby person. She could never control when or how long she could do it; the thoughts always came sporadically in short bursts of thought.

"Let me go now!" Annie heard the same voice again, except this time it was spoken by the young woman. Ignoring her, Annie pulled out her scanner in one hand and typed on it with the other.

"So, she's the Bug type that set off my scanner. I hate false alarms." Annie thought out loud, while her victim continued to squirm. The captured woman yelled back.

"Look, you're gonna regret this!" she cried, attempting to sound strong, but Annie could detect the slight crack in her voice.

"Wow, her level is pathetic." Annie continued to think out loud.

The woman spoke again. "Let me go, Rocket pig!"

Annie looked up at her startled. "How did you know I was a member of Team-" Annie peered down at her chest, grinning bashfully when she noticed the bright red 'R' across her shirt, clashing with the black of the rest of her tight-fitting, sleeveless top.

Annie twiddled her fingers as she spoke. "Right... well I usually don't wear this uniform." She then subconsciously placed a hand over her taut stomach, and scowled at the young woman. "And I'm not a pig."

Annie then noticed the logo of Silph Co near the front pocket of the woman's labcoat and an ID badge clipped nearby. Annie leaned in as she peered at the badge closely.

"Hmm... Joy, huh? You're Saffron City's Nurse Joy? You look a lot younger than usual," Annie pondered aloud. "I've never heard of a Nurse Joy that was a Bug type..." Annie frowned as she looked at Joy's glasses. "... or one that wears hideous glasses."

"No, Saffron's Nurse Joy is my older second cousin," Joy protested, but Annie didn't seem to hear her.

"Oakley, I've apprehended the runner." Annie said as she touched a finger to her ear. "I think we should hold her for now." Annie quickened the pace of her words. "She works for Silph Co so she can be helpful to us later on when we have to-"

"Kill her now and get back to your original position," Oakley curtly cut her off. Joy gasped audibly, eyes growing wide. Annie looked first at Joy, and then to her scanner.

"Hold on," Annie spoke even faster. "She's a Gifted. A Bug type. If we brought her back to Giovanni-"

"Annie!" Oakley cut her off again. "I don't want to have this conversation every time this comes up. I'll be there in one minute, and if she's not dead by then I'll kill her myself. Got it?"

Annie snorted in disgust before turning off her earpiece. She looked back up to Joy, who had turned pale in the face.

'She's going to kill me!" Joy's thoughts echoed loudly inside Annie's skull.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you," Annie assured her, but Joy wasn't listening. Her muscles clenched and twisted as she again attempted to escape, but under Annie's psychic hold, she could barely move her body at all.

"Will you hold still? I promise I won't hurt you," Annie said.

She extended two of her fingers which began to emit a pink glow. Joy stopped struggling and looked with wide eyes at Annie's glowing fingers.

"What are you doing?" Joy asked, her voice now a cracked whisper.

Annie didn't reply. Wordlessly, Annie raised her glowing fingertips to Joy's forehead, and the pink glow began to intensify. Joy shut her eyes, realizing she couldn't escape.

"Put her down now." A male voice from behind caused Annie to stop.

The glow from Annie's fingertips winked out, and slowly, she turned around to find a young man standing behind her.

She first saw his eyes - golden, glowing orbs staring back at her. Involuntarily, her body tensed and she took a step backward, immediately breaking eye contact. Her eyes focused away from his face and on to the white t-shirt that fit tightly to his lean but muscled frame. When Annie chanced a glance back at his face, she noticed his dark, spiked hair.

"Hey... hold on a sec," Annie said as she pulled out her scanner. She typed in a few keys, and it beeped rapidly.

"A Bug type huh?" Annie said with a nod. She typed in a few more keys, and again, the picture of a young man's face appeared on the device's monitor. It was him. She smiled. "I thought I recognized that cute face. "

"Let her go," the young man spoke louder this time. "I won't let you do to her, what you Rocket scum did to me."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "What we did to you? Look I don't know what you're talking about, but you're co-"

The young man's body moved in blur, his glowing eyes leaving a trail of golden light. He leaped towards Annie, throwing a punch at her feet just as she jumped away. The ground shattered instantly underneath his golden, glowing fist, throwing dirt and grass in the air.

The attack broke Annie's concentration, causing her to release her Psychic hold. Joy yelped as she felt herself fall from the air. In an instant, the young man jumped beneath her, catching her and cradling her in his arms.

"Hey I was still talking!" Annie yelled as she landed several yards away in a crouched position. She looked back at her assailant, but he wasn't paying attention to her. Still holding Joy in his arms, the young man gently set her on her feet. The golden glow of his eyes winked out, and he touched his fingertips to her arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked. A reassuring smile slowly spread across his face.

"Yeah... I think I'm okay," Joy said as she returned his smile, her face slightly turning the color of her hair.

"Good. Now get back and hide. It's not safe here," he instructed. Joy nodded and backed away from the path, retreating into the bushes. The young man's eyes flashed into golden orbs again, and he directed his attention back to Annie.

"The next punch I throw won't be aimed at your feet," he warned, clenching his fist.

Annie didn't waste her time with a verbal reply. She raised a glowing hand, and the young man looked wide-eyed at his body as it also began to glow a pink hue.

"That's because you can't throw any when you can't move!" Annie said with a mischievous grin. Her grin faded when the young man, still surrounded by her pink aura, charged at her.

"Hey!" Annie cried, eyes wide. "You're not supposed to be able to-" She ducked under a punch aimed at her face, then jumped away as he attacked with a low sweep. She flipped backwards several times before gracefully landing on her feet.

"Hmm, that was easier to dodge," Annie remarked.

The young man relentlessly pursued, again dashing towards her and throwing a kick. Annie easily stepped around the direct attack and found herself at his back. Seeing an opening, she kicked at the small of his vulnerable back, but to her surprise, the young man rolled under her leg with a low somersault and quickly got back to his feet.

"Good guess," Annie said, maintaining her fighting stance. "But your movements are slower than before. You're not completely immune to my Psychic attack, just resisting it... a lot."

"You're right," her opponent admitted. "You can't completely control me with Psy-" He suddenly tumbled away just as a beam of dark energy came from behind and exploded where he was a second before. He landed facing the direction of the attack and saw a blue-haired woman wearing a Team Rocket uniform matching Annie's.

"That's interesting," the blue-haired woman said, looking at Annie. "He just dodged an attack from behind while he was distracted."

Annie replied, unfazed by the woman's sudden appearance, "He's pretty good, Oakley. That's the second time he's dodged an attack from his blindside."

"So this is the guy we're looking for?" Oakley asked, as she executed a flip, landing next to Annie.

Annie nodded to her. "Yup, that's the guy we're looking for. We've found Ace."

The young man, Ace, looked back and forth at the two women in surprise. "Team Rocket is looking for me?" His eyes narrowed and their golden glow intensified. "I'm not letting you take me back."

"Stop acting like we've done something to you before," Annie rolled her eyes. "And of course we're after you! What the heck would we want with your pink-haired... wait, where'd she-" Annie looked to her left and to her right before finding Joy hiding beneath the brush. She then noticed Joy holding a small blinking device in her hand. An emergency signal. Annie cursed.

Oakley followed Annie's line of sight and spotted Joy. "You didn't kill the girl!?" Oakley cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "She's already activated a Pokémon League emergency signal, too. Some idiots from the League are gonna be here any-" The sound of approaching police sirens from Saffron City cut her off. Oakley glared at Annie.

"Sorry," Annie said, smiling sweetly at her partner.

"We have to get out of here, now!" Oakley ordered as she grabbed Annie's arm and started to break into a run. In a flash, Ace appeared in front of the pair, arms crossed and eyes flaring brightly.

"Like I'd let you. I want payback," he seethed. A flash of black energy erupted between Oakley's hands and formed into into a solid, black staff with pointed ends. She slashed at Ace's face, but he stepped backwards out of the weapon's range, then jumped forward again, drawing back his glowing, right fist.

"Reflect!" Annie yelled as she held out both arms in front of her. In an instant, a protective, pink sphere of energy formed around the two Rocket agents.

"Brick Break!" Ace roared, thrusting his fist with a twisting motion into the Psychic forcefield. Just as quickly as the forcefield formed, it shattered into several wisps of pink energy that dissipated into nothing. The two Rocket agents tumbled backwards from the force of the blow before backflipping to a standing position.

"His brute force is insane!" Oakley cried. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Joy to her right, slowly and quietly retreating towards Saffron. Oakley turned back to Ace and grinned.

"You want to play, hero?" She asked Ace, pivoting on one foot to face Joy, and drawing back her weapon like a throwing spear.

Ace's eyes widened, and Annie cried out. "Oakley, no!"

Joy turned at the sound of Annie's voice. Her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped when she realized what was about to happen.

"Then go save the girl!" Oakley roared as she hurled her weapon at Joy. Ace's body disappeared in a blur, and Annie reached out a glowing hand, forming pink energy around her friend's Dark weapon. She tried to mentally pull the weapon off course, but the Psychic energy merely sizzled and evaporated when it made direct contact with the spear formed from Dark energy.

"Let's go!" Oakley yelled, pulling Annie's arm and breaking into a run. Annie looked back helplessly as Oakley pulled her away, the Dark spear still speeding towards Joy's chest.

With the spear just a yard away from Joy's chest, Ace appeared in a flash next to her, shoving her out of the weapon's way. The momentum from his jump kept his body flying forward, straight into the path of the spear.

"No!" Joy screamed as she saw the blade draw closer to his chest. Ace twisted his body at an odd angle, and the blade impaled him through his upper body. The impact jerked his body into an even more twisted position, and he landed with a sound that was sickeningly both wet and dull as his body crashed into the dirt. His impaled body came to a sliding halt, leaving a long trail of red blood.

As Oakley pulled Annie away from the scene with a long, powerful leap, Annie turned her head back to give one final look. She saw Joy kneeling over Ace's body with her hands alight in a white, ethereal flame held over his wound, and the flashing red lights of emergency vehicles just arriving from Saffron City.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sweat dripped down Joy's cheeks as she focused her energy into her hands. A white flame flared to life around her hands and grew stronger.

"Hang in there," she whispered to Ace, but he didn't respond. His body lay still and unmoving. Joy pressed her hands into the lower part of Ace's torso, where the Dark spear entered his body. She winced at the wet feeling of his blood but kept her flaming hands pressed over his wound.

"Joy! We came as soon as possible. What happened?" Joy turned her attention away from Ace briefly to see a blue-haired police woman in a police uniform running towards her.

"Officer Jenny, I was getting some medicinal herbs around Route 6 when Team Rocket attacked me. He took this spear to save me. Hurry, bring a stretcher!" Joy said, turning back to Ace. Her hands continued to burn brightly.

"We need a stretcher, now!" Jenny yelled back to one of the medical vehicles. Two individuals dressed in white ran to them with a stretcher.

"Just give me a few more seconds," Joy said, as the area surrounding Ace's wound also began to glow a bright white.

"What are you doing to him?" Jenny asked.

Joy didn't answer. For several seconds, she kept her eyes closed while the white fire in her hands flared stronger, and Ace's torso emitted an even brighter, white light. A sudden white flash of energy from Joy's hands startled Jenny and the two men with her, causing them to briefly turn away from the intense light. When they looked back, the fire from Joy's hands was gone, but Ace's torso maintained a dull glow. Joy opened her eyes. She sighed and wiped away the sweat from her brow.

"Okay, I've managed to stop his bleeding for now," Joy finally answered Jenny. "We need to move him, now."

The two men gently lifted his body onto the stretcher and took him to the ambulance.

"You made a tourniquet with your energy?" Jenny asked, as she and Joy also climbed into the back of the ambulance, sitting near Ace's unconscious body. "You Gifted never cease to amaze me."

"It won't last long," Joy told her. "Take us to the Saffron City hospital," Joy ordered the two men as they climbed into the driver seat.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we can't do that," the driver responded. "The hospital's already past maximum capacity after the Lavender Town bombings two days ago. There's no way he can be treated there."

"I know about the hospital," Joy said. "I was getting those herbs because the hospital's in short supply right now."

"Then, you know it's impossible for them to treat him right now," the driver replied.

"Then take us to Saffron City Gym, I can operate on him there. We need to remove that spear," Joy said.

"Ma'am, excuse me for saying this," the driver replied hesitantly, "but Mistress Sabrina won't-"

"Mistress Sabrina," Joy cut him off, "is currently absent from the Gym and won't be back for at least another half hour. That makes me the ranking League member of Saffron City Gym. Take us there, now."

"Yes, ma'am," the driver replied, and the vehicle began to move.

"Joy," Jenny began, placing a hand gently on Joy's shoulders, "I'm not going to question your judgment, but who is he? You know an unauthorized person isn't allowed inside a Gym."

"He... to be honest I don't know," Joy admitted, looking at his unconscious form. "But I'm not just going to let him die."

"You know nothing about him at all?"

"Well, I do know he's a Gifted like me," Joy answered. "I heard one of the Team Rocket agents say he was a Bug type. I saw him use Fighting type moves, but he could stand his ground against Psychic attacks so I think his patron pokémon must be a Pinsir."

"So you're not just bringing an unauthorized person into a League Gym – you're bringing an unauthorized Gifted," Jenny sighed. "Mistress Sabrina isn't going to like this."

Annie and Oakley landed expertly in a small clearing in the forest.

Annie looked behind her and saw only the quiet woods. "Oakley, we've been running for over a half hour now. Let's stop. No one followed us."

"I know," Oakley replied, also looking over her shoulder. "I wasn't worried about anyone from the League... I was thinking about what to say to Giovanni."

Annie shifted her feet uncomfortably. "Oakley, do we really have to call Giovanni now. He won't like it if we tell him we didn't capture Ace."

"We have to let him know eventually so we should just do it now. I'm gonna set up the call," Oakley pulled out a small hand-held device and typed into it. "Besides, we haven't botched a mission in years since that time with those brats in Altomare, so maybe he won't be mad at all. And you know," Oakley scowled at Annie, "this is all your fault, letting that woman live to trigger a League emergency signal"

Annie placed her hands on her hips. "How was I supposed to know she worked for the League? Besides, you're the one that almost killed Ace! Giovanni said he wanted him alive."

Oakley frowned as she continued typing. "You told me yourself that he twisted his body to avoid a lethal blow. It was our only way to escape before the police arrived. If Sabrina came with the police, I don't care if I'm a Dark type, I am not going to fight that woman."

"Giovanni didn't say Ace would be that strong when he briefed us," Annie pointed out.

"Yeah, the report was completely inaccurate about his abilities," Oakley said. "His predictive ability was incredible – almost psychic."

Annie's eyes looked upward. "Hmm, I don't think he has a secondary Psychic type. A Psychic type should be able to use telekinesis or telepathy. He tried to fight us using strictly hand-to-hand combat. "

Oakley continued to fiddle with her device as she spoke. "Yeah, and I've never heard of a Bug/Psychic pokémon. Who would his patron pokémon be?"

Oakley set the device on the ground in front of them. "Okay, the call is going through."

Annie hugged herself tightly. "Can you talk to him alone?"

"No!" Oakley scolded.

The device beeped twice and a column of bright, white light came from its center. The light formed into a humanoid shape, taller than both Annie and Oakley. Within seconds, its features became clear.

Annie felt a lump form in her throat when she looked into the beady, snake-like eyes of Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. He held his broad shoulders in a posture just as stiff as the orange business suit he wore and the brown, slicked back hair on his head.

"Report," he said. His voice was soft but menacing at the same time.

Both Rocket agents remained silent for a couple seconds, prompting Annie to nudge Oakley with her elbow.

"Master Giovanni," Oakley said, sneaking a glare at Annie, "unfortunately we have not captured Ace."

Giovanni's snake-like eyes grew narrow.

"Explain," he said. Somehow, it sounded more like a threat than a command.

"We engaged Ace just outside of Saffron. He came from Route 6 just as our intelligence reported, but a Pokémon League member was nearby during the fight. She activated an emergency signal. Our mission was supposed to be a stealth mission so we left as soon as possible."

"It still is not 'stealth' if the League was alerted to your presence," Giovanni replied. "It seems to me this mission was a failure in every way." Annie felt her heartbeat quicken.

"Well... sir that's not all," Oakley hesitated, "... in the process of our escape, I kind of impaled him with my spear, but we think he's okay."

"You did what!" Giovanni roared, causing both Annie and Oakley to step away from the man's image. "No lethal force! I was perfectly clear on that!"

Oakley spoke hesitantly. "M-my apologies, sir, but it was the only way we could escape before the emergency unit arrived. Ace was stronger than we expected, and we weren't prepared to fight him. Our intelligence highly underestimated his abilities."

The right side of Giovanni's mouth slowly upturned in a grin. Annie wondered why a gesture that was usually friendly made her shudder. "Is that so..." Giovanni said. His beady eyes focused on Annie. "You, don't you have anything to add?"

"N-no, sir," Annie replied quickly, staring at her feet.

"These events are unfortunate," Giovanni said. He crossed his arms across his broad chest. "If League emergency units knew Team Rocket was involved, no doubt they reported this incident to Lance already." Giovanni scowled. "That draconian idiot will use any Rocket attack as an excuse to force another outrageous security policy on the Kanto region. I still can't believe how this region looks up to that fool as a leader."

"Me too, sir," Oakley agreed, nodding eagerly.

"Then again if Ace is involved, Lance will keep his mouth shut," Giovanni said with a small smile. "He'll try to cover this up."

Annie and Oakley exchanged puzzled looks.

"You two will proceed with your next operation tomorrow night," Giovanni continued. "Silph Co will be on guard, but I need those items. Don't disappoint me again."

His image faded, and the low hum of the device died away. Annie breathed a long sigh and collapsed on her rear end.

"He still wants us to go through with the next operation? How can we pull a robbery on Silph Co after this?" Annie asked Oakley.

Oakley shook her head. "I know. Saffron City's security will be on high alert for a few days. Intelligence reports that even Lorelei of the Elite Four is on her way to Saffron tonight, as if dealing with Sabrina alone wasn't enough."

Annie covered her face with her hands. "Now Ace is there, too, and he's probably been healed by now."

Oakley grimaced. "Yeah, trying to steal from Silph Co now is just suicide."

"Suicide," Annie whispered. She looked at her partner seriously. "Oakley, would Giovanni even care if we died?"

Oakley scoffed. "Of course he would. We're two of his top agents."

For some reason, Annie didn't believe her.

Saffron Gym's infirmary was silent except for the sounds of light breathing. Joy studied Ace's unconscious form, laying motionless in a bed. His upper body was now naked except for the badges wrapped around his torso, and most importantly, it was no longer impaled with a spear made of solid energy. Joy wiped away the sweat on her forehead and removed the gloves from her hands. The operation was a success.

Just then, the doors of the infirmary swung open, and Sabrina, Saffron City's Gym Leader entered, looking first at Ace and then at her.

Sabrina stared at Joy with dark green eyes, the same color as her long, flowing hair that clashed so vibrantly with the crimson red suit she always wore.

"Mistress Sabrina, I didn't realize you arrived already," Joy said, jumping to her feet. "I know you're probably mad, but please, let me explain. This man saved me, and I needed to surgically remove-"

"I was shown Officer Jenny's police report," Sabrina interrupted her. "It didn't mention his name."

"Ace," Joy said, looking back briefly at his face. "I heard the Rockets call him Ace."

"You still have not found out why he is here in Saffron?" Sabrina asked.

"Well no," Joy replied. "He's been unconscious ever since he got hit by the spear."

Sabrina said nothing. She raised two of her fingers, the tips beginning to emit a bright, pink light, and she slowly approached Ace.

Joy stood in front of Ace's body, blocking Sabrina. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"A Mind Probe. I plan to read his thoughts and determine if he is a threat. He had to come to Saffron for a reason," Sabrina stated.

"Hold on. You can't use a Psychic technique like that on him while he's in this condition," Joy said, looking nervously at Sabrina's fingers.

"You do not have the authority to tell me what I can and can not do," Sabrina said. "Besides, I will merely skim the surface of his psyche. The technique will be harmless. Now step away, and let me do my work, or I will order his removal from this Gym immediately."

Joy opened her mouth to reply but stopped herself. She stepped to the side and walked for the exit, looking back as Sabrina touched her glowing fingers to Ace's forehead.

Joy read the clock on the wall.

"That's twenty minutes, now" Joy said to herself. She glanced again at the door of Saffron Gym's infirmary. It remained closed. She adjusted her glasses and continued typing on a laptop placed on her knees. After several keystrokes, she again, looked towards the door. Still closed.

She set her laptop on the seat next to her and stood up, heading for the door. Just as she reached for the knob, the doors flew open, and Joy found herself eye to eye with Sabrina.

"M-Mistress Sabrina, I... was just going to check on Ace," Joy spoke quickly. "You were in there for so long."

"I told you it was a limited and harmless Mind Probe, and it needed to be done," Sabrina stated, "You brought him into this Gym without determining exactly who he is, or where he came from. That's a serious violation of protocol."

Joy furrowed her brow. "I used my authority to make an exception. I couldn't take him to the hospital, and this Gym is the only other place in the city with the medical tools needed to properly remove that spear. If I didn't take him here, he would've died."

Sabrina's face remained unchanged. "As an unidentified Gifted he poses an extremely dangerous threat to this Gym. I am astounded that you let him in so easily," Sabrina reprimanded. The two stared at each other, Joy's lips upturned in a pout, but Sabrina's expression remained blank.

"However," Sabrina continued, "after I scanned his thoughts I've determined that he holds no malicious intent and is not a threat. I won't overrule your decision to bring him here."

Joy allowed herself to relax. "Thank you," Joy glanced at her laptop then back to Sabrina. "May I ask what his intentions were?"

"From what I can tell, he came here to find Mistress Lorelei of the Elite Four," Sabrina replied.

"He came to see Lorelei?... That's what I thought," Joy again looked back to her laptop. Sabrina followed her gaze.

"What is it?" Sabrina asked.

"I've been checking the League records while you were in there," Joy said. "When I searched for any recent documentation of Ace, I found no results."

"That's odd," Sabrina mused. "For the past four years, Lance has ordered a strict monitoring of all Gifted in this region. There should be something."

"Well, I searched back further and could only find things about his past. His parents died when he was young. Lorelei took him in at a young age and raised him as her son. That is, until four years ago when he went missing."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "Missing?"

Joy grabbed the laptop from her seat and showed the monitor to Sabrina.

"Ace completely disappeared from the records of Kanto and all other nearby regions four years ago," Joy continued. "It's like he stopped existing."

Sabrina's eyes narrowed as she pointed at a particular line on the screen. "The date that he disappeared..." Sabrina looked Joy in the eyes. "Was he in Indigo Plateau on that day when it happened?"

Joy nodded. "He was there, Mistress. Ace is a survivor of the Indigo Plateau bombing, but he's been missing ever since - until today."

Sabrina looked back at the door of the infirmary. "He went missing when Team Rocket attacked Indigo Plateau... that could explain what I saw in his mind," the Gym Leader said. "The Mind Probe was very superficial, but even so, I could see an anomaly in his psyche."

Joy looked worried. "What did you see?" she asked.

"His mind has a large mental block that keeps him from remembering at least one year of his life's memories," Sabrina said. "Such a case of amnesia can be forced on a person's psyche by a Psychic technique, but it's usually a self-defense reaction triggered by the brain after a traumatic event."

"Something's not right here," Joy said. "I've treated several survivors of Team Rocket's terrorist attacks, and none of them suffered from amnesia like this. Unless... " Joy's eyes widened. "You don't think he was captured by Team Rocket that day?"

"We can't say for sure," Sabrina said. "But if he was, there's no telling what they did to him if they kept him in captivity. His mind could be repressing memories of torture."

Joy clenched her fists at her side, her nails digging into skin. "Where's Lorelei? I thought she was arriving here in Saffron tonight after speaking at the mourning event in Lavender Town."

"She should be arriving shortly," Sabrina said.

Joy placed a hand on her chin. "This is odd. Ace and Lorelei arriving in Saffron City on the same night. You said Ace was looking for her, but how did he know she was coming here? They should've been out of contact for years now."

Sabrina began to walk away and turned her head back to Joy as she spoke. "That's not my concern. I must now file my report of this incident to headquarters."

"Yes, Mistress," Joy called back to her, bowing slightly. She folded her laptop and entered the infirmary to see Ace.

When Joy entered the infirmary, she first noticed the abnormal amount of sweat running down his cheeks. Something was wrong. She ran to his side and wiped a clean cloth across Ace's face, soaking up the beads of sweat.

"No," Ace spoke in a choked whisper. His face cringed and his head thrashed to one side. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing grew labored.

"Ace? Ace!?" Joy's voice grew worried. Was this a side effect of the Mind Probe? A nightmare?

"Ace what's going on," Joy asked, as she tried to hold his body down.

His lips parted in a painful croak. "No more."

Darkness. Ace opened his eyes, but he still couldn't see. Something covered his eyes. A wetness surrounded him. His body was completely submerged in some type of liquid, and when he tried to move his arms or legs, he felt shackles painfully dig into his wrists and ankles, keeping him in place.

"No more," Ace tried to speak, but his words came out as gurgling noises underwater. He felt a sudden pain in his chest, and he screamed, an intense stream of bubbles rushing from his mouth. It was a searing pain, like someone had placed a hot iron on his chest and held it in place. Ace heard a hollow, distant voice speak.

"Fire test complete. It was super-effective. I'm fairly certain he's a Bug type, but just to make sure let's try Flying energy. Ready the laser, please."

"No, don't," Ace tried to speak again, but only a low moan and a bubble escaped his lips.

"The laser is ready? Okay, fire."

"Don't do this to me! Let me go!" Ace screamed. To his surprise, he heard his desperate voice clearly, and there was no pain in his chest. Instead, his chest felt something very soft and warm pressed against it. It felt good. He heard a voice speaking to him. Not hollow and distant like before. It was kind and soothing.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe." A female. He felt a hand gently rub circles around his back, while another patted his upper back lightly.

"No one's going to hurt you." She said again. Ace realized both of his arms were hugged tightly around a warm, soft body. It felt so good he didn't want to let go. The feeling was so familiar. He felt this way whenever he hugged-

"Lorelei," Ace whispered, his voice a breath of relief.

"Lorelei?" the voice asked. He felt her body pull away and all of a sudden he felt cold.

Ace opened his eyes. His blurred vision first saw a pair of glasses and blue eyes. He could make out the fuzzy outline of pink hair.

Pink? Ace blinked twice. The woman's face became clear. She was pretty but not Lorelei.

"Ace, are you okay?" she said to him. He'd seen this girl before, but from where?

"Yeah, just a nightmare" he replied. "It's nothing out of the ordinary. I get these dreams about-" Team Rocket! He tried to save her from Team Rocket when he-

Ace looked to his left and then to his right. "Where am I?" he asked her.

"You're in Saffron Gym's infirmary," the woman replied, smiling gently. She had such a nice smile and a pretty face. She must've been about his age. He looked to her ID badge. Joy.

"You took a spear formed of Dark energy in the chest and saved my life. I brought you back here to operate on you. You're fine now," Joy told him.

"You did the operation?" Ace asked, glancing down at his chest. He realized his upper body was bare, except for the thick layer of bandages wrapped around his torso. "Thank you. It looks like we're even."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Joy said, her hands still lightly touching his arms. He liked how it felt. When he looked at her face, he noticed a light blush in her cheeks.

"So, have you been waiting here at my side this whole time?" he asked. Joy pulled her hands back to her sides subconsciously. He wanted her to put them back.

"Well... yeah I have," Joy said as her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. She placed her thumb and index finger over her lips. "I mean, you're my patient so, you know, it's just my duty. "

Ace felt a smile spread across his lips. "You're lying."

"No, I'm a Gifted," she explained quickly, taking her hand away from her mouth. "Lance appointed me as a healer a couple years ago so it's my duty to make sure a patient of mine makes a full recovery."

"No, not that," Ace replied. "When you said that 'it's just your duty', you covered your mouth when you spoke. It's a subconscious sign that you're hiding something."

Ace focused energy into his eyes. Like a curtain slowly being drawn to the side, his field of vision expanded and he could see directly to the left and right of his head. His vision continued to widen until it completely reached around to the back of his head – a visual field of 360 degrees. He concentrated more energy into his eyes, and gradually he saw a faint golden glow surrounding Joy's body.

"You're right," Ace said to her. "You are a Gifted. A Bug type like me."

Joy's eyes widened slightly. "How did you know I was a Bug type?"

Ace shrugged his shoulders. "There's a golden aura around you. Only a Bug type shines that color."

"You can see something like that?" Joy asked. Ace shrugged again.

"Wait, let me get my laptop," Joy said, looking around the room to try to find it. Without turning his head, Ace saw it directly behind him on the floor, but he decided not to tell her.

"Laptop?" Ace asked her as he smiled, enjoying the confused expressions on her face.

"Well, before Lance drafted me into the League as a healer, I worked for Silph Co," she replied, swiveling her head left and right and looking around in all the wrong places. "I still work for them now actually as the head of research for Gifted and their abilities. This field of study is still so new since Gifted only started appearing about four years ago. I try to make a record of every Gifted I meet."

"Wow, that's amazing," Ace said, breaking into a huge grin.

"What is?" Joy asked, stopping her search to look at him directly.

"You've got to be the biggest nerd I've ever met!" Ace maintained his wide smile. He formed his hands into circles and placed them over his eyes. "Four eyes!"

"Hey!" Joy cried. Ace noticed the aura around her right arm glow brighter, and it began to flow towards him, as if reaching for him. She was about to hit him.

"You jerk," she said with a smile and hit him playfully with her right hand.

"Attacking a patient? Worst doctor ever!" Ace teased. She stuck her tongue out at him. Again, the aura around her right arm seemed to reach for him, and then, with her right hand, she tried to hit him again. Ace easily caught her incoming wrist with one hand.

"Hey, let go!" Joy giggled. She tried to slap his arm with her other hand, but seeing the attack, he used his free hand to catch her other wrist.

"You're in trouble now," Ace warned as he slowly began to push her forward.

"Hey!" Joy cried out. He felt her try to push back, but he just pushed harder. He noticed Joy plant her feet on the ground, preparing to push with the added strength of her legs.

Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced across Ace's side, causing him to clutch his wound with both arms. Just then, Joy pushed forward as hard as she could, but she gasped in surprise and tumbled forward when she met no resistance. Ace felt their bodies collide, and he shut his eyes and grunted as the two fell back onto his bed.

When Ace opened his eyes, the first thing he saw were Joy's blue eyes inches away from his face. Her face was so close he could feel her breath, lightly blowing against his lips. He felt her chest pressing against his bare skin, and her soft fingertips resting on his shoulders. His body felt warm again – the same feeling he had before when she held him. His eyes traveled downwards to her lips which seemed to quiver slightly, like she didn't know what to say.

Her lips. A tingle ran down the back of his neck when he looked at them, and slowly he felt himself raise his lips towards hers as if drawn by an unknown force. He noticed her pink lips begin to pucker slightly, and her blue eyes started to close.

Then, the infirmary doors swung open, and both Ace and Joy turned their heads to see a red-haired woman wearing glasses burst into the room.

"Ace, thank goodness you're alr-" the woman stopped herself and placed her hands on her voluptuous hips.

"Lorelei!?" Ace and Joy spoke in unison.


End file.
